A Tale of Two Brexits at Four of London’s Biggest Law Firms

By Thomas Seal, Bloomberg News

Only two weeks after Britain voted to leave the European Union, the financial results posted by four of the country’s largest law firms were starting to show the effects of Brexit.

The referendum and surrounding uncertainty had already slowed work on merger and acquisitions — one of the most profitable departments at major law firms. “Brexit began to inhibit activity” in the months leading up to the vote, according to Allen & Overy, the only member of London’s so-called magic circle of law firms to see profits drop slightly over the last year.

But if the ...